The US government bond market fell to its lowest level in nearly a year this week - but Wall Street still wanted Gary U.S. Bonds to shut down the markets on Christmas Eve.

The NYSE tapped the 1960s "School Is Out" rocker to ring the closing bell at 1 p.m. on Thursday and sing "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town."

In other financial puns - Bonds' autobiography is titled "By U.S. Bonds: That's My Story." It's in its second printing, we're told, and includes anecdotes about close colleagues including Sam Cooke and Bruce Springsteen.

Gary U.S. Bonds is known for hits like "New Orleans" and "Quarter To Three," and his autobiography is in its second printing.

Music icon Gary U.S. Bonds will ring the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Christmas Eve in addition to performing "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" with his wife, Big Mama, and daughter, Little Mama.

The 1 p.m. event on Thursday will also serve as a celebration of the second printing of Bonds' best-selling autobiography, "By U.S. Bonds, That's My Story." In the book - written with Stephen Cooper and with a forward by the E Street Band's Steven Van Zandt - Bonds recounts stories of traveling with B.B. King and Sam Cooke, his first big break with Dick Clark, hit songs "New Orleans" and "Quarter To Three" and how Bruce Springsteen sought him out to perform with him. The book is available at Barnes & Noble, Amazon and Bonds' website.

Born Gary Anderson, the singer's name was changed to U.S. Bonds by record producer Frank Guida, according to All Music, which notes that Guida double- and triple-tracked Bonds' voice, "and the resulting murky production gave all the hits (including 'Quarter to Three,' 'School Is Out,' and 'Dear Lady Twist') a party-in-outer-space quality all their own." The singer made "a couple of excellent solo albums in the early '80s with the help of Bruce Springsteen," according to All Music.

Springsteen co-produced this thrilling 1981 comeback record for Sixties rocker Bonds (most famous for "Quarter to Three"), keeping The River's party rolling by giving him three songs that didn't make that album's final cut. The following year, Springsteen gave Bonds another seven original songs for On the Line - but Dedication was the one that included Number 11 single "This Little Girl," which explodes out of your speakers the first time you hear it (or when you play it 20 times in a row).

Bruce Factor: Springsteen co-produced the album with Bonds and Steven Van Zandt; he also played guitar and sang a duet with Bonds on "Jole Blon."